My favourite lemon loaf

I have made this particular lemon loaf many times over, and just realised last week that I haven’t shared the recipe on here! I started trying to find THE lemon loaf recipe I think around the time I started this blog in 2011, and have been tweaking this recipe for years until I found the variation I finally love enough to say “that’s it, I want a lemon loaf exactly like the last one.”

I think I got to that point in 2017, so while this is a very simple recipe (cos I’m not about the complicated life), it’s one that took me almost a decade to get to the point of being my favourite lemon loaf.

I’m also not about that long story blog life, so here’s the recipe, hope you guys try it and love it as much as I do. And if you DO make any tweaks, let me know – there’s no such thing as perfect, after all.

Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze

113g unsalted butter, softened

200g caster sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

190g all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

80ml sour cream, room temperature

Preheat your oven to 180C and line a 8×4 loaf tin with butter and baking parchment

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (test the mix between your fingers to ensure there are no granules of sugar), then add the eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition

Add the lemon zest, juice and vanilla and beat until incorporated well

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl

Add 1/2 the flour mix to the batter and combine until all dry ingredients are just wet, then add all the sour cream and beat well, then finish with the remainder of the flour mix

Bake for 55 minutes or until a tester inserted at an angle comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 10 mins, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the glaze:

1 tbsp lemon juice, or more if needed

1/4 cup sifted icing sugar

Combine in a bowl and pour over the completely cooled loaf. Let set for a bit then enjoy!